Pie vs. Cake — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman & Fiza Rafique — Updated on September 19, 2023
Pie generally consists of a crust with a filling, often fruit-based, baked in a dish. Cake is a baked sweet treat made from a batter that usually contains flour, sugar, and eggs. Both are desserts, but they differ in structure, ingredients, and methods.
Difference Between Pie and Cake
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Pie is a baked dish that primarily consists of a crust and a filling, which can be sweet or savory. Cake, on the other hand, is a sweet baked good made from a batter that usually includes flour, sugar, eggs, and some form of leavening agent. Both are popular choices for desserts, but pies can also be a main course if they contain savory fillings like meat.
Pie crust is usually made from flour, fat, and water, while cake batter typically contains a fat like butter or oil, along with a leavening agent to help it rise. The ingredients in pie are often layered, with the filling enveloped by the crust. In contrast, cake ingredients are usually mixed together to form a uniform batter that rises as it bakes.
Pies often feature fruit-based fillings such as apple, cherry, or blueberry. Cakes, however, offer a wide variety of flavors and may contain added elements like frosting, cream, or fondant. The pie’s flavor largely depends on the filling, while the cake gains its character from the batter and any accompanying components like frosting.
Pie is generally baked in a dish that helps to shape and contain the crust and filling. Cake is baked in a variety of pans, such as round, square, or sheet pans. While pies are usually one layer, cakes can be single-layered or multi-layered and are often adorned with decorative elements.
In summary, pie and cake are both baked goods enjoyed worldwide but differ in ingredients, structure, and preparation methods. Pie is versatile, with options for both sweet and savory dishes, whereas cake is primarily a sweet dessert with a plethora of decorative and flavor possibilities.
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Comparison Chart
Base Ingredients
Crust and filling
Batter
Typical Fillings
Fruit, meat, vegetables
Frosting, cream, fondant
Layers
Usually one layer
Can be multi-layered
Baking Dish
Specific pie dish
Various shapes of cake pans
Versatility
Can be sweet or savory
Primarily sweet
Compare with Definitions
Pie
Pie is a baked dish consisting of a crust and filling.
The apple pie had a flaky crust and a delicious filling.
Cake
Cake is a sweet baked dessert made from a batter.
The chocolate cake was moist and rich.
Pie
Pie crust is typically made from flour, fat, and water.
The pie crust was so buttery that it melted in my mouth.
Cake
Cakes often feature decorative elements like sprinkles or fondant.
The birthday cake had colorful sprinkles on top.
Pie
Pies can contain either sweet or savory fillings.
She made a chicken pot pie for dinner.
Cake
Cake is a form of sweet food made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients, that is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate, and that share features with other desserts such as pastries, meringues, custards, and pies.
Pie
Pies are usually baked in a specific dish designed for them.
You'll need a nine-inch pie dish to make this recipe.
Cake
A sweet baked food made of flour, liquid, eggs, and other ingredients, such as raising agents and flavorings.
Pie
Pies can be open-faced or covered with a top crust.
The blueberry pie had a lattice top crust.
Cake
A flat rounded mass of dough or batter, such as a pancake, that is baked or fried.
Pie
A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts (pecan pie), brown sugar (sugar pie), sweetened vegetables (rhubarb pie), or with thicker fillings based on eggs and dairy (as in custard pie and cream pie).
Cake
A flat rounded mass of hashed or chopped food that is baked or fried; a patty.
Pie
A dish composed of fruit, meat, cheese, or other ingredients baked over, under, or surrounded by a crust of pastry or other dough.
Cake
A shaped or molded piece, as of soap or ice.
Pie
A layer cake having cream, custard, or jelly filling.
Cake
A layer or deposit of compacted matter
A cake of grime in the oven.
Pie
(Informal) A pizza.
Cake
To cover or fill with a thick layer, as of compacted matter
A miner whose face was caked with soot.
Pie
Something similar to or resembling pie
Mud pie.
Cake
To become formed into a compact or crusty mass
As temperatures dropped, the wet snow caked.
Pie
A whole that can be portioned out
"That would ... enlarge the economic pie by making the most productive use of every investment dollar" (New York Times).
Cake
A rich, sweet dessert food, typically made of flour, sugar, and eggs and baked in an oven, and often covered in icing.
Pie
See magpie.
Cake
A small mass of baked dough, especially a thin loaf from unleavened dough.
An oatmeal cake
A johnnycake
Pie
A former unit of currency of India.
Cake
A thin wafer-shaped mass of fried batter; a griddlecake or pancake.
Buckwheat cakes
Pie
An almanac of services used in the English church before the Reformation.
Cake
A block of any of various dense materials.
A cake of soap
A cake of sand
Pie
Variant of pi2.
Cake
(slang) A trivially easy task or responsibility; from a piece of cake.
Pie
A type of pastry that consists of an outer crust and a filling.
The family had steak and kidney pie for dinner and cherry pie for dessert.
Cake
(slang) Money.
Pie
Any of various other, non-pastry dishes that maintain the general concept of a shell with a filling.
Shepherd's pie is made of mince covered with mashed potato.
Cake
Used to describe the doctrine of having one's cake and eating it too.
Pie
(Northeastern US) A pizza.
Cake
(slang) A buttock, especially one that is exceptionally plump.
Mmm, I'd like to cut me some of that cake!
Pie
A paper plate covered in cream, shaving foam or custard that is thrown or rubbed in someone’s face for comical purposes, to raise money for charity, or as a form of political protest; a custard pie; a cream pie.
Cake
(pyrotechnics) A multi-shot fireworks assembly comprising several tubes, each with a fireworks effect, lit by a single fuse.
Pie
(figuratively) The whole of a wealth or resource, to be divided in parts.
Cake
(transitive) Coat (something) with a crust of solid material.
His shoes are caked with mud.
Pie
(letterpress) A disorderly mess of spilt type.
Cake
(transitive) To form into a cake, or mass.
Pie
(cricket) An especially badly bowled ball.
Cake
(intransitive) Of blood or other liquid, to dry out and become hard.
Pie
A pie chart.
Cake
A small mass of dough baked; especially, a thin loaf from unleavened dough; as, an oatmeal cake; johnnycake.
Pie
(slang) The vulva.
Cake
A sweetened composition of flour and other ingredients, leavened or unleavened, baked in a loaf or mass of any size or shape.
Pie
(obsolete) Magpie.
Cake
A thin wafer-shaped mass of fried batter; a griddlecake or pancake; as buckwheat cakes.
Pie
(historical) The smallest unit of currency in South Asia, equivalent to 192 of a rupee or 12 of an anna.
Cake
A mass of matter concreted, congealed, or molded into a solid mass of any form, esp. into a form rather flat than high; as, a cake of soap; an ague cake.
Cakes of rusting ice come rolling down the flood.
Pie
(zoology) pie-dog: an Indian breed, a stray dog in Indian contexts.
Cake
To form into a cake, or mass.
Pie
(historical) A traditional Spanish unit of length, equivalent to about 27.9 cm.
Cake
To concrete or consolidate into a hard mass, as dough in an oven; to coagulate.
Clotted blood that caked within.
Pie
(transitive) To hit in the face with a pie, either for comic effect or as a means of protest (see also pieing).
I'd like to see someone pie the chairman of the board.
Cake
To cackle as a goose.
Pie
(transitive) To go around (a corner) in a guarded manner.
Cake
A block of solid substance (such as soap or wax);
A bar of chocolate
Pie
(transitive) (of printing types) To reduce to confusion; to jumble.
Cake
Small flat mass of chopped food
Pie
An article of food consisting of paste baked with something in it or under it; as, chicken pie; venison pie; mince pie; apple pie; pumpkin pie.
Cake
Made from or based on a mixture of flour and sugar and eggs
Pie
A magpie.
Cake
Form a coat over;
Dirt had coated her face
Pie
The service book.
Cake
Cakes are typically frosted and can have multiple layers.
She ordered a three-layered wedding cake.
Pie
Type confusedly mixed. See Pi.
Cake
Cake batter contains flour, sugar, and a leavening agent.
The cake batter was smooth and ready to pour into the pan.
Pie
See Pi.
Cake
Cakes can be baked in various shapes and sizes.
I decided to make cupcakes instead of a large cake.
Pie
Dish baked in pastry-lined pan often with a pastry top
Pie
A prehistoric unrecorded language that was the ancestor of all Indo-European languages
Common Curiosities
Can Pie be savory?
Yes, pies can have meat or vegetable fillings.
Is Cake always sweet?
Cake is primarily a sweet dessert.
What is Pie crust made of?
Pie crust is made from flour, fat, and water.
Do you need a special dish for Pie?
Yes, pies are usually baked in pie dishes.
Can Pie be multi-layered?
Pies are usually one layer but can have a top crust.
What is the main difference between Pie and Cake?
Pie has a crust and filling; Cake is made from batter.
Do Cakes always have frosting?
No, but frosting is common.
Can Cake be baked in a pie dish?
It's possible but not ideal.
Are Cakes more decorative than Pies?
Cakes often have more decorative elements.
What leavening agents are used in Cake?
Baking powder or baking soda is common.
Is Pie or Cake more popular at weddings?
Cake is traditional, but pie is becoming popular.
Do Pies usually have toppings?
Some have a top crust or crumb topping.
How many layers can a Cake have?
Cakes can be single or multi-layered.
What are common Pie fillings?
Fruit, meat, and vegetables are common.
Can you make Pie and Cake without an oven?
Some no-bake versions exist for both.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
Co-written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
